Where to from here
by Dixie Vampire
Summary: Dr. Vaughn makes his move from beyond the wall, pretty much my take of what season two could have been, heavy john whompage, Dorian with 'amnesia', john against Dorian for a minute, a 'mid season finale', and all kinds of fun in between! enjoy
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Obviously dont own anything to do with almost human otherwise this would be the start of season 2

* * *

"Why are you obsessing over this one machine?" Sarah asked, looking over Nigel's shoulder at the screen in front of him. Dr. Vaughn looked up to her. She was the one John Kennex knew as Anna.

"He's special, I want him back. I want them all back," Nigel told her as he scooted away from the screen.

"And besides, what better way to get into the police department than to replace Dorian with one of my new creations?" Nigel asked, with a glance to the DRN standing next to him. It was an XRN in a DRNs clothing.

"He could get a lot deeper than you could," Nigel added.

"Oh I got deep enough," Sarah replied with a smirk when she saw John come to stand next to his DRN in the surveillance footage Dr. Vaughn was watching.

"So why is this one special?" Sarah asked.

"I didn't realize it until after I left, He's one of my originals. One of the ones I hand made myself he's not off the line. His soul is one of the most stable ones I made, the mass produced ones are okay but they are the ones that malfunctioned and had the worst emotional breakdowns. I should have known that when he told me he was the only one who got reinstated with the police department. I have to look at this DRNs soul to recalibrate the ones in our little army otherwise they will start having breakdowns too," Vaughn explained.

"We only have 500 processors, what are you going to do with those extra DRN's?" She asked.

"Don't worry about it," Nigel snapped at her.

"Alright, Let's see if we can make this as seamless as possible to make sure Kennex doesn't notice from one moment to the next that his precious Dorian has been swapped. We may have to steal the other DRNs first," Sarah said.

"That's what he is for, he's ready to step into Dorian's shoes once you get him the opportunity," Vaughn said. Sarah looked at the DRN.

"Let's go," She said to the android and he followed her from the room.

* * *

"John, are we ready to go yet?" Dorian asked with annoyance in his voice at his human partner.

"Do you see the food in my hands?" John asked with just as much irritation.

"It's not even Japanese food!" Dorian protested.

"It's food Dorian! Food! Humans need food, damnit! We don't just sit on a charger overnight and are good to go. We need sleep, water, and FOOD!" John yelled, refusing to move from his seat.

"We're only supposed to break for lunch for so long John," Dorian told him.

"I'm eating Dorian, the only thing that is going to make me get out of this seat is if we get a call or I finish my food!" John said.

"Oh I can get you out of that seat!" Dorian said and stepped up to John. John pulled out his gun and pointed it at his partner without it interfering with his ability to take a bite of his food.

"Jo-," Dorian tried to protest.

"I could have been done eating by now if you'd stop bitching about it! Now just let me eat my damn hotdog!" John snapped at him. Dorian raised his hands and backed away from the bench his partner was sitting on. John had pulled over next to a park to get out and eat his food instead of just eating it in the car. John put his gun away as Dorian took to pacing again.

"This seems to be one aspect of being human you can't seem to grasp Dorian! Humans like to take their time and enjoy things, try it once in a while. Sit down and people watch!" John said and scooted over on the bench. Dorian just looked at him.

"Sit!" John insisted. Dorian sat down and looked at John.

"What exactly is people watching?" Dorian asked.

"You sit here and take in what people look like as they go by, don't stare and try not to make eye contact, but look at people. Try to come up with what you think their lives are like," John said and began to take bites off his hotdog once again.

"Not sure I understand," Dorian said. John finished chewing his bite and swallowed.

"Okay, look at that guy over there, business suit, on his phone, with the kid over there," John nodded to a man across the street.

"What about him?" Dorian asked.

"Exactly, what about him? Is he a stock broker, a banker? How many times has he left that kid behind because he was too busy talking on his phone? Is he a good father when that damn thing's turned off?" John asked. Dorian looked them over.

"Well his name is Adam Pryer and he has several driving infractions on his record but no child neglect cases," Dorian told him as he ran facial recognition on the man. John shook his head.

"No, no, no, don't look up who they really are, you're supposed to guess! Humans don't have facial recognition software in their brains we have to come up with these things on our own!" John told him. Dorian just looked at him.

"Try again," John said and looked around them.

"John, we're going to be late getting back from lunch," Dorian told him.

"We're already late for that, that woman that just got out of the taxi," John pointed out.

"John," Dorian hung his head.

"Okay, she's pretty. Not a model but very nice to look at. Not a business woman, maybe a waitress. Maybe her name is Caroline and she's a romantic," John said. Dorian looked at him.

"Imagination," Dorian said.

"Yes, free, creative thought," John said. Dorian looked to the woman and smiled.

"She is a romantic and good news for you she's a dog person," Dorian said. John nodded.

"Nice, so she's single?" John asked. The woman was heading down the street past them.

"Yes and she loves to read and listens to old music, and she would love to listen to you play your guitars for her," Dorian said. John smiled and nodded.

"I can do that," John said and ate the last bite of his hot dog and downed what was left of his drink as the woman passed them.

"Does she have any kids, because that might be a bump in the road," John asked.

"Yes she does, an adorable little girl that melts your heart, you will love her," Dorian answered.

"I doubt that but I'll take your word for it," John said. Dorian laughed.

"Okay, we're ready to go now," John said as he gathered all his trash and stood up.

"Now do we find out the truth about her?" Dorian asked.

"No, that's no fun," John said as he threw his trash away and walked around the cruiser to his door. Dorian shook his head as he got in. John started the car and looked at Dorian and noticed his face sparkle blue.

"What's up?" John asked.

"A hospital reported a stolen android, a DRN," Dorian said.

"Someone stole a Dorian? Wait, was it that one DRN that rode along with us?" John asked. Dorian's face glowed again.

"Yes it is," Dorian answered.

"Who would steal- no who_ could_ steal an android? Let alone a DRN, I remember trying to get you out of the car last week you weren't budging, even using my synthetic leg!" John said, remembering a spat that involved Dorian wanting to go back to the station and John trying to force him out of the car for trying to override Johns driving controls.

"Well if you hadn't-," Dorian said.

"Don't start!" John snapped and merged into traffic. Dorian gave him the address and John drove in that direction.

* * *

"Wow, actual detectives? I just thought I would report the robbery and never hear from you guys again," The Technical Manager of the Hospital, Brad, said after John had introduced himself and Dorian.

"This one is still on the force?" Brad asked to John.

"I am," Dorian spoke up.

"He doesn't like people talking about him like he's not here," John explained.

"You see ours wasn't so…vivacious. He was much more robotic," Brad said.

"You treat us like robots and we'll act like it," Dorian replied. John could tell he was getting testy with Brad already.

"So what exactly happened?" John asked.

"Well he stopped listening to me all together and another DRN took him. He didn't fight him at all he just walked away with him. They did that sparkly thing with their faces for a minute before the other one grabbed him and lead him away," Brad said.

"Like when we took him?" John asked.

"No, your DRN cleared it with me first, said he was a witness and that you'd have him back by the next day and you did. He and this other DRN didn't even talk, they just looked at each other and he went with him," Brad explained.

"Access the area surveillance cameras in the area to see if we can learn more," John said and Dorian began to search for the footage.

"He was good with the patients, they liked him better than the other bots we've had. If you guys could just get him back, you can't exactly replace a DRN, they don't make them anymore," Brad said. John glanced at Dorian.

"I'm aware, can you remember anything else?" John asked out of pure curiosity.

"Not really," Brad said.

"Okay, thank you, we'll see what we can do," John assured him.

"Thank you," Brad said and went back to his business and John followed Dorian out to the car.

"Have you ever talked non-verbally with another DRN?" John asked.

"I have," Dorian told him.

"Could he have been hacked and remote accessed him?" John asked.

"That would be very difficult," Dorian told him.

"Well they turned off those MX's,"

"Shutting down MX's is not the same as controlling a DRN, Shut down is one simple command," Dorian told him. John nodded and got into the cruiser.

"And making them walk isn't?" John asked as he started the car.

"It may come naturally to humans but walking and keeping our balance requires constant commands, especially if we have to compensate for anything like bumps or stairs," Dorian explained.

"Well you look like it comes natural," John said and turned the wheel while looking into the mirror.

"Thank you," Dorian responded and his partner drove them back to the police station.

* * *

John sat down at his desk and turned around to see Dorian.

"How many DRN's are left?" John asked.

"What do you mean?" Dorian asked.

"I know they were all decommissioned, but you were going to the space station before you were recommissioned, you weren't the only one going up there. The other DRN was at a hospital. You guys were made for police work but obviously other people can get one of you. How many other DRNs are out there and active?" John asked.

"Well Rudy would be able to track the ones that were bought from the department, even though they sold them they made new owners agree to have their locations monitored at all times. Rudy could also locate all DRNs that are currently offline. The ones stolen and sold on the black market won't be traceable." Dorian answered.

"You think more DRNs are going to go missing," Dorian said. John shrugged.

"Maybe, we'll see," John replied.

"We could run over there now and get them and get it over with," Dorian said.

"I just sat down," John replied.

"You could have had this revelation in the car and saved us even more time," Dorian replied.

"Your wife nagging you again Kennex?" Richard piped up from his desk.

"Dorian's more of a man you'll ever be," Kennex said using his hands to imply the height difference.

"Oh so you're the wife?" Richard shot back. John smiled and looked away, he couldn't keep a straight face or think of a come-back.

"Shit, I need to get better at this," Kennex laughed to himself.

"Yeah you do," Richard replied. John got to his feet.

"Alright let's go," John said and went with Dorian.

* * *

John got out of the cruiser and leaned against the vehicle.

"Okay, I'll be here when you get back," John said.

"When I get back?" Dorian asked.

"Yes, I really don't want to deal with your room mate right now. Hurry back," John replied. Dorian shook his head and made his way to Rudy's lab.

As John waited he spotted a bench in the shade and decided to migrate to it. He sat down and about twenty minutes passed. John looked up at Dorian when he returned.

"That was quick," John said. Dorian smiled over to him. John looked at Dorian for a minute something was off.

"Yeah," Dorian replied. John began to stare at him.

"You alright John? You're staring at me," Dorian said with half a smile. That was when John saw it. Dorian's eyes; they were green. Bright vibrant green. John pulled out his gun and put it to the DRN's head.

"John?"

"Where's Dorian?" John growled.

"John! I am Dorian!" The machine protested and shied away.

"No, My Dorian, where's _my_ DRN!?" John yelled. Civilians walking by where beginning to stare.

"John, it's me!" The DRN insisted.

"Alright then, the girl we saw at lunch, what was her name?" John asked. The android looked at him as he face sparkled, that was green too. And after a minute he went quiet and dropped the act. In a flash that John could barely see, the DRN took his gun and attacked.

John tried to fight the machine but he didn't stand a chance. Every hit broke bone and John soon found himself staggering backwards in pain. The civilians had started to run from the scene. John tried to think quickly while he had a little space between him and the android. He lifted his synthetic leg in an attempt to kick his opponent but that proved useless.

The DRN caught John's leg and held it.

"That's how you defeated the XRN," The DRN said. John looked at him wide eyed and was going to ask him how he knew that but the DRN began to crush the prosthesis.

"Synthetic fail," The robotic voice read out as the components were destroyed. John cried out as the leg became so damaged it sent out random electric pulses into his flesh. Johns other leg buckled and he fell to the ground.

"If it hurts, John, I can remove it," The DRN said in that same calm tone. He then ripped the leg completely off, causing damage to the base piece.

"Ahhh!" John yelled out. When the base piece ripped from his nerves he registered it as pain; a lot of pain.

The DRN threw the appendage aside and leaned down. He picked John up and began to beat the living day lights out of him. John quickly became a bloody choking mess at the mercy of a pissed off android. The DRN grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up.

"How did you know?" The DRN asked. John didn't answer he gathered the blood in his mouth and spat in the DRN's face.

"Nice," The DRN said sarcastically and did his green disco face again as he wiped his face. John heard a car pull up quickly.

"Did you get Dorian?" The DRN asked as he approached the vehicle.

"Didn't give us enough time! What the hell happened?" Sarah yelled from the car. John looked up and saw her.

"He made me," The DRN told her.

"You going to finish him off!?" Sarah asked. The DRN looked down to John.

"That was not my mission and in his current condition his chance of survival is less than twenty percent," The DRN said and got into the vehicle. He didn't know that a civilian had already called it in and the ambulance was almost there.

John rolled onto his side and tried to get up. He made eye contact with Sarah and she winked at him before blowing him a kiss. John got to his hands and knee as the car sped away. John tried to stay awake but he couldn't fight the darkness and collapsed against the sidewalk.

Dorian listened to Rudy ramble on. Sometimes the human didn't know when to shut up. Rudy was still looking up the active DRNs in the city. Dorian heard a message come across dispatch.

"We have reports of a DRN attacking a human at Kinsington plaza, Ambulance in route, Do not approach, Send in MX's to handle the DRN," Dispatch ordered. Dorian lifted his head.

"That's where I left John," Dorian said. Rudy, not having heard the dispatch call, gave Dorian and strange look.

"Left John where?" He asked. Dorian got to his feet and ran from the lab.

When he got to where he had left John he found a crowd. An ambulance was parked behind the cruiser and Dorian began to scan for John's life readings. He pushed his way through the spectators and to the gurney that was being pushed towards the back of the ambulance. They all shied away from him.

"Wait that's my partner!" Dorian shouted when he recognized John's unconscious form on the gurney. The EMT's paused for only a moment and Dorian was able to scan his partner.

"John! Who did this?" Dorian demanded.

"According to witness reports and video surveillance in the area, you did DRN-0167. We must take you into custody," An MX appeared behind Dorian and grabbed his arm. Dorian jerked his arm away.

"I didn't do this and I will submit my memory data to Captain Maldonado who can reach me at the hospital, I'm going with my partner!" Dorian snapped and walked to the cruiser to follow the ambulance that was in the process of leaving.

"Halt DRN-0167!" The MX shouted but Dorian was already in the vehicle.


	2. Chapter 2

Maldonado walked into the hospital and it wasn't hard to find Dorian. He was getting into it with some MX's that were still trying to arrest him. Dorian had his back against a wall, two dismantled MX's at his feet, three more trying to corner him with hospital security behind them.

"DRN-0167, you are under arrest," A MX responded robotically.

"I am not going anywhere until I see my partner!" Dorian snarled.

"Alright! That's enough!" Maldonado shouted. They all looked up at her.

"MX's stand down, Dorian is officially in my custody until further notice. Leave him be!" She snapped. The MX's obeyed and stepped back. They had not drawn weapons because of the proximity to patients and other humans. Their hand to hand combat had clearly failed against a riled up Dorian.

Maldonado grabbed the shoulder of one of the MX's.

"Find me a doctor that knows Detective Kennex's condition," She told him. The MX nodded and left. Maldonado looked to Dorian.

"Can we sit down and wait like civilized people?" She asked. Dorian simulated a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes Ma'am," He said and walked with her down the hall to a row of chairs. They sat down and Maldonado looked to Dorian again.

"Tell me what happened," She said. Dorian looked at her and then looked away in frustration.

"That's just it Captain, I don't know. I went in to get the DRN tracking codes from Rudy. Rudy started talking and it took forever, I heard the call come over dispatch and by time I got back to John he…" Dorian couldn't finish it.

"There was roughly two liters of blood on the concrete and I found so many broken bones and…," Dorian hung his head and put his hands to his forehead.

"Dorian, he was in worse shape than this when we found him after the ambush. He has an amazing will to survive, John is going to be fine," Maldonado said reaching a hand out and rubbing Dorian's shoulder.

"A DRN did this to him! He saw my face attacking him! What if he thinks I malfunctioned and went crazy on him? It wasn't me and I can prove that but what if he never trusts me again?" Dorian asked.

"I saw the surveillance footage on the way over here, John knew it wasn't you. He had a gun to that DRN's head, he was on full alert." Maldonado told him. Dorian lifted his head to look at her.

"I haven't had a chance to look at anything, I've had MX's in my face," Dorian said. Maldonado nodded.

"Yeah, I'm still working on how I'm going to explain that to the revenue board," Maldonado said looking over to the dismantled MX's.

"I can fix them," Dorian said to her.

"Good because between you and John this departments going to go broke!" She said. Dorian couldn't help but grin at the memory of John shooting an MX in the head because it insulted him.

The MX returned and Maldonado looked up to him.

"Detective Kennex is in surgery. They are reassembling the bone structure of his face due to damage from the 22 fractures sustained in the attack," The MX said.

"How many times was he hit?" Maldonado asked in shock.

"Judging by the fracture patterns the DRN struck him twice, Though there were approximately 15 blows to Detective Kennex's entire body," The MX answered, not comprehending that the question had been rhetorical. Dorian hung his head back into his hands.

"Thank you, that will be all," Maldonado said after a sigh. The MX walked away and the Chief shook her head. Dorian lifted his head and blue lights danced across his face as he got a call.

"Yes Rudy?" Dorian asked.

"I took a look at Johns leg and it's destroyed I can't fix it, I've already ordered him a replacement but he'll be in a wheelchair for a day or so before it gets here," Rudy said.

"Have you begun tracking the DRN that did this?" Dorian asked.

"Well…according to my software you were the only DRN in a three mile radius," Rudy said.

"I was with you Rudy!" Dorian snapped. Rudy jumped at the other end of the line.

"Yes…quite right…you were with me…that's why I looked at the surveillance footage after Captain Maldonado sent it over to me and there were two moments where, as Kennex likes to say, he does his disco face," Rudy started to explain.

"When you do that, DRN's should send out a gps signal but he didn't, That DRN has been modified to be completely off the grid at all times. He even called a getaway driver and nothing in the area even registered that a call was made," Rudy told him.

"So you called to tell me you've got nothing?" Dorian asked.

"Unfortunately yes, I-," Rudy started to talk but Dorian hung up on him.

"What was that?" Maldonado asked.

"John's leg can't be repaired and the DRN is untraceable," Dorian answered her.

"And the car had a tag scramble on it, these people are good at covering their tracks. The DRN was pretending to be you until John called him out. So he was trying to go undercover with John, maybe John has something he wants or the police department does. The XRN was destroyed…what else could someone want?" Maldonado mused more to herself than anything.

"Then if they wanted to go undercover in your place, what were they going to do with you?" She asked. Dorian got to his feet and began to pace. Too many questions to deal with right then.

Hours passed and the doctors finally came to find them. They were taken to John's room and Dorian stood at the foot of his bed.

"He should be waking up here soon. All organs and arteries sealed up nicely and all bones remodeled fine. We had to remove his prosthetic base and replace it. It's probably going to be sore for a few days like before. A nurse will be in here in a few minutes with a wheel chair for him and he can be discharged as soon as he wakes up," The doctor said. Maldonado thanked him and the doctor left. She looked to Dorian and saw his face glowing.

"Doctors miss anything?" She asked with a smirk on her face. Dorian looked up to her but didn't say anything. Maldonado laughed to herself.

"I will send an MX to the precinct to get some clothes for John," Maldonado said and walked out the door. Dorian walked to the window and leaned against the sill.

Dorian waited patiently and kept checking John's condition. His brain wave activity was speeding up. John took a deep breath and groaned as he turned his head aside. Dorian smiled as his partner woke up. John began to stretch and move around in the bed. He managed to roll on his side and face Dorian before he opened his eyes.

John looked up and saw Dorian. He panicked and jumped back but caught himself before he fell off the bed.

"Shit!" John cursed as he sat up and looked around.

"John it's me!" Dorian said desperately and leaned over the edge of the bed. John looked him in the eyes and found them to be the cobalt blue they were supposed to be. John was still suspicious though. Really, how hard would it be to change an androids eyes?

"Do the….do the disco face," John told him. Dorian turned his head and let his circuits light up.

"Well, you're two for three," John said when he found that to be blue as well.

"What's the third?" Dorian asked.

"The woman we saw in the park, what was her name?" John asked.

"At lunch today?" Dorian asked. John nodded.

"I don't know but you said her name was Caroline," Dorian told him. John smiled and let himself fall back down onto the bed.

"Well that was fun," John breathed as he relaxed.

"An MX will be here soon with some clothes for you and it's going to be a day or two for your new leg to come in," Dorian said. John jumped up onto his elbows and looked down at his missing leg.

"That green eyed bastard! I am so going to shoot that bucket of bolts in the head if I ever seen him again! What a pain in the ass!" John snarled.

The nurse brought in a wheelchair and the MX got back with a set of sweat pants and a hoody that had the department logo on them. John quickly changed and got into the chair. Moving around only by the power of his arms was a regular routine. He took that leg off every night to let it charge and had to get around that way. John went to push himself forward when Dorian grabbed his shoulder and made him sit back.

"I got you man," Dorian said and began to push the chair forward.

"Hey, I could get used to this," John smiled as Dorian took him from the hospital room and outside to where the cruiser was parked.

"Seeing as you are incapable of driving," Dorian said and brought John to the passenger side of the car.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get used to that!" John said and reached forward. He opened the door and grabbed the overhead handle to steady himself and got onto his one foot. He turned around and fell into the seat. John got settled in the seat and shut the door before pulling on his seat belt. Dorian nodded to himself and collapsed the wheelchair. He put it in the backseat and walked around the car.

"I have to say you are getting around quite well without your leg," Dorian said and he began to drive them back to the station.

"I didn't have a leg until five months after I woke up, how do you think I got around?" John asked him.

"Why did it take so long before you were issued a leg?" Dorian asked.

"At the time I wasn't sure if I could come back to the force and insurance wouldn't cover such an advanced prosthetic if I didn't come back. There was no way I could afford one on my own. I was starting to look at one of those metal curved ones that athletes used to use like thirty years ago," John explained.

"But then I would have had to go through six months of physical therapy to get the hang of walking on the damn thing instead of the one it took to get used to the newer version," John added.

"It took you five months to decide whether or not to come back to the force?" Dorian asked.

"I wanted to come back since I woke up, they were deciding if I could. I had internal affairs all over me on top of whether or not I could physically do the job. This was all before I realized Anna was the one that screwed me over!" John answered. Dorian looked over at John and didn't say anything. He drove John home. He watched as John got himself up to his apartment.

"So are you good for tonight? I could stay," Dorian offered. John laughed and shook his head.

"Yeah that's not happening, I'm fine Dorian. You can pick me up for roll call tomorrow though," John said.

"You think you're coming in to work?" Dorian asked. John raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, I've got crutches in my closet and my replacement leg will be here in a day or so right? Why wouldn't I be at work?" John asked.

"You just spent pretty much the entire day in surgery!" Dorian told him.

"And it was a lot easier than waking up from a year and a half coma, I didn't have to relearn everything…I feel fantastic! Best surgery I've ever had!" John smiled. Dorian shook his head.

"Alright if you're okay," Dorian said.

"I'm fine damnit! Would you stop hovering?" John asked.

"Alright, I'll pick you up in the morning," Dorian told him.

"Good, see you then," John said. Dorian said good bye and left the apartment. He dispatched an MX to keep an eye on the apartment outside of sight of the windows.

Once Dorian was out of sight John pulled himself out of his chair and sprawled across the floor. He then lifted his amputated thigh and cradled it the best he could. It hurt, it ached down into his bones. His nerve ending were on fire. It didn't hurt that much the first time, John blamed it on nerve damage from it being ripped off and replaced so soon.

"Son of a bitch!" John cursed. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Richard looked up from his desk as John made his way across the bullpen to his desk.

"What the hell happened to your leg?" Richard asked noticing the detective getting around on crutches.

"Where have you been?" Kennex asked him.

"If you're asking about how you got your ass handed to you by a DRN, I heard. Why don't you have a new leg yet?" Richard asked.

"It's in the mail, as morbid as that sounds," John replied and sat down at his desk.

"So you're going to be working on crutches? Did you steal them out of your grandfather's closet?" Richard asked.

"Nope, your's," John said and started up his computer.

"You calling me old?" Richard asked.

"Sorry, I guess I should respect my elders," Kennex said with a smirk.

"There you're getting better at this," Richard smiled. Kennex smiled.

"So what if you have to chase down a suspect?" Richard asked.

"I'll shoot them," John answered. He unconsciously gripped at his still aching thigh. Paul laughed.

"No, seriously," Richard asked.

"Eh, Dorian will just have to run them down for me, better off that way since he doesn't get out of breath. I make him do it anyway," John said. Richard nodded. Richard raised an eyebrow at Kennex when his face briefly contorted from pain.

"You alright?" Richard asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," John grumbled and his hand dug in deeper into his thigh muscles.

"Yeah you look it," Richard replied and returned his attention back to his monitor.

Dorian came down into the bullpen and to John's desk.

"Another DRN has been reported missing," Dorian said.

"How many are in the city?" John asked.

"The department sold 50 to government agencies like N.A.S.A, 12 where bought at police auctions, and 5 have went missing from Police storage," Dorian told him.

"How many are in the city?" John repeated his question.

"Not counting myself, six more," Dorian answered.

"Make that Four," Dorian said after his face lit up with a report of two more missing DRNs.

"Why are DRN's suddenly a hot item? Let's go talk to owners," John said and grabbed his crutches and got up. They walked for the elevator and Richard held out his hand to Kennex.

"Here," He said. John reached out to him and Richard slipped him a small pill bottle. John looked at it, they were pain pills.

"Thanks," John said and pocketed them.


	3. Chapter 3

John kept up with Dorian as they maneuvered through the construction site. They had to find the foreman.

"Hey buddy! Where's Tom Fowler?" John grabbed a construction bot. He was a big burly model and was carrying an I-beam over his shoulder.

"He's on the third floor," The bot said and pointed up to the half constructed building.

"Thank you," Dorian said as John looked up at the building.

"Fantastic," John said and made his way into the building. This was making Dorian very nervous but John made it through the obstacles of wood, tools, concrete, and fast paced workers. They got to the elevator and it took them up to the third floor.

They found the foreman looking over drawings with another construction bot holding a stack of drywall.

"Mr. Fowler, I'm Detective Kennex and this is my partner Dorian, can we talk to you about your missing DRN?" John asked, flashing his badge to the gentleman.

"Yeah well he looked just like yours but picture him in a hard hat and reflective gear," Fowler said snidely as he began to walk away. John began to move with him.

"I get that! What I want to know is when did you notice him missing?" John asked.

"When I saw him walking away with that other bot!" Fowler growled as he started up a set of stairs. The elevator didn't go up any higher yet. John kept up with them without a problem. At least he made it look that way.

"Another DRN?" Dorian asked. Fowler nodded.

"Come to think of it yeah," Fowler answered.

"What color was he?" John asked. Fowler looked confused.

"Black like all the rest," He replied when they got to the next floor up.

"No, look at Dorian he's blue, blue eyes, blue lights, what color was this other DRN?" John tried to explain.

"Oh! Mike is orange but the one that he walked away with I couldn't tell you, he was too far away to see," Fowler said.

"Mike?" John asked.

"Yeah, he wanted to be called Michael and we call him Mike," Mr. Fowler answered. John shrugged and nodded as he made it up to the next floor.

"Oh, do you have any surveillance of the area," John replied and followed the foreman up another set of stairs.

"They haven't been installed yet, but they just walked away, I'm sure right down the street someone has to cameras up or a bot flew over, something." He answered.

"We'll check," John assured him.

"Well just give us a call when you find him, I really want to get Mike back here as soon as possible, he keeps this place organized!" Fowler said as they got to the fifth floor.

"We'll do our best," John said. Dorian checked his vitals again. The human was out of breathe and just tired.

"You know I can't help but notice these other DRN's are all quite successful in their other jobs. I mean the one at the hospital was good with patients, Mike apparently is important here," John said, using the conversation to let his muscles rest. He had been experienced in working without his leg but that didn't mean those muscles were in shape to do it all day.

"What's your point John?" Dorian asked.

"Maybe you guys are almost human, not every human can be a cop, maybe not every DRN can either. Maybe the ones that broke down on the job were just meant to be florists or something," John said.

Dorian thought about it. He remembered the DRN from the hospital being scared to get back behind a gun. It would make sense, maybe Dorian just had the heart of a cop where the other didn't.

"We ready to go?" Dorian asked John. John gave the steps a weary look. Dorian smirked to himself and stepped forward. He grabbed the crutches in one hand.

"Dorian! What the hell are you doing?" John asked as Dorian grabbed his arm and turned around. Dorian pulled John onto his back and grabbed his leg with his other arm.

"Hang on man!" Dorian said.

"What are you doing!?" John yelled. Dorian walked to the edge of the building and looked down to the ground. He scanned it to make sure it was safe and John figured out what he wanted to do.

"No, Dorian NO!" John said but he was ignored as Dorian jumped from the edge of the building. John buried his face into Dorian jacket as the android made jumping down fifty feet look easy.

Once on the ground John let go of him and hopped on his one foot for a moment.

"You're fucking crazy!" John shouted and clutched his chest with a glance up at the building. Dorian couldn't help but laugh as he held out his crutches. John took them and quickly made his way to the cruiser.

John tossed his crutches into the back seat, shut the door, and hopped to the front door. He opened it and fell into the seat. Hoppling around his apartment wasn't that much work, his entire body was getting tired and he hated to admit he was glad Dorian skipped the stairs. He had kept up with Dorian through an office building and a construction site. John leaned back against the seat and caught his breath. He didn't keep track of how long Dorian took to get into the car. Several minutes passed before the driver side door opened.

"John," Dorian spoke softly. John opened his eyes and looked over. Dorian was holding a drink out to him. John smiled and took it.

"Thank you," John breathed.

"Rudy just contacted me, your new leg is in, He is having it sent to your doctor's office," Dorian said. John was too busy downing the water to reply.

"Fantastic," John said when he came up for air.

"Let's get the leg, then start talking to DRN's that haven't been stolen yet," John said and leaned back into his seat.

"John you're exhausted," Dorian said as he began to drive.

"No I'm not," John replied, but as he said it he laid his head back against the rest then took several deep breaths.

"Uh huh!" Dorian shook his head. John didn't reply. As they drove he fought his hardest to stay awake. His eyes shut and Dorian began to play classical music. John opened his eyes and glared at the android.

"That's not fair," John grumbled.

"Get some rest John, it's not like you had surgery yesterday," Dorian replied. John's eyes drifted shut again and he fell asleep. Dorian turned the music off and smiled to himself.

Dorian drove them to the doctor's office. John had dazed in an out during the ride. When they stopped he opened his eyes and sat up. John got into his jacket and got the pills Richard had given him. He took two of them and finished off his water with them.

"What's that?" Dorian asked.

"Pain pills," John told him and opened his door. He hopped up and got into the back seat for his crutches. Dorian followed him inside. They didn't have to wait long to be let into a room. John got up on the examination bed and took off his coat. He then removed his shoe and belt.

"What are you doing?" Dorian asked.

"They have to get to my leg don't they?" John said and removed his pants. He was wearing a pair of black boxers beneath.

"Well hello Detective Kennex!" A nurse came in with a smile. John knew her, she had helped him before.

"Hey Megan," John smiled at her.

"How have you been?" She asked. John shrugged.

"Fine I guess," John replied. Megan turned to the computer sitting in the corner and saw Dorian.

"Hi, who's this?" Megan asked as she sat down in front of the monitor.

"Sorry, this is Dorian he's my partner, Dorian this is Megan she helped me get fitted for my first leg," John introduced them. Dorian shook her hand.

"Yes about that, why are you coming back into to put on a new leg? It should calibrate to the settings recorded on the base piece, you should be able to do it yourself," Megan said and pulled up Johns records.

"The base got ripped off," John said. Megan looked back at him.

"Ouch!" She responded and read the information on the screen.

"Yeah," John said.

"Okay, it says here the base was damaged beyond repair…and the settings couldn't be retrieved, well that sucks," Megan read from the screen.

"Yeah," John said again with a halfhearted smile. Megan got up and came over to John. She reached to her tools on the wall and put a black cuff around Johns arm and it took his blood pressure on it's own. She grabbed a thermometer and got his temperature instantly. The tools automatically sent the information to the computer.

"So how did it happen?" Megan asked as she waited for the blood pressure monitor to finish checking him.

"I got into it with a bot and he didn't exactly fight fair," John told her.

"Jeez, the shit you cops go through, I'm grateful but it is a lot," Megan said as all the information uploaded to the computer.

"Thanks, not a lot of people even think of that stuff," John said. Megan looked at the information.

"Your blood pressure is a bit high," Megan told him.

"It's been a stressful couple of days," John replied.

"Sounds like it, You've already got your pants off so all that's left is for me to get Dr. Olmstead and your leg, I will be right back," Megan smiled and headed out the door.

"Thank you Megan," John said.

"She's nice," Dorian said.

"Yeah I was probably the meanest to her when I first started coming here but she smiled through all of it," John answered him.

"You being mean? Say it ain't so," Dorian teased.

"Bite me," John replied.

The Doctor and nurse came back in and began what was possibly the most helpless hour of Dorian's life. He watched as they laid John down flat and put his leg on. The detective covered his face as they installed it. John's muscles flexed and he took in deep breaths. It hurt, a lot, and there was nothing Dorian could do but hope for those pain pills to kick in.

They had him perform several exercises to make sure the leg was working properly such as leg lifts, knee bends, ankle circles, and wiggling his toes. John kept his face covered until Dr. Olmstead gave him the okay.

"That should do it detective, just do the exercises everyday like normal," Dr. Olmstead told him as John relaxed his hands and looked to her.

"Yeah…will do," John said and tried to sit up. Dorian went to get to his feet and help but Megan and Dr. Olmstead got him.

"So are you done for the day?" Megan asked and found John's pants.

"Nope, just paused for my leg and some lunch then I have to get back to interviewing witnesses," John told her. Dr. Olmstead gave him a disappointed look.

"Excuse me? I just read your file, you had that base replaced last night along with surgery to repair massive internal damage, you should be on leave,"

"I've got a case Doc," John argued as he put his pants on.

"You will always have cases. I'm married to a detective myself, they never end, but you do. If you don't rest you're not doing anyone any good," Dr. Olmstead scolded him. John ignored her as he stood up to pull up his pants and button them. Dr. Olmstead looked to Dorian.

"I recognize you, you're a DRN correct?" Dr. Olmstead asked Dorian. Dorian nodded.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" John snapped at her.

"I want you to send a medical priority message your captain that Detective Kennex is on duty against medical advice, he should be on a minimum 48 hour leave," Dr. Olmstead said to Dorian.

"Don't do it Dorian!" John warned his partner but he growled when he saw Dorian's disco face light up. He sent it.

"Benedict Android is back!" John cursed and got to his feet. He grabbed his jacket and reached for the door handle. Dorian stood up to follow him and John turned to him with his hand out.

"Keys!" John demanded. Dorian gave him the keys and John stormed out.

"Thank you both," Dorian said to the women as he quickly picked up John's shows and followed his pissed off partner.

Dorian caught up with John at the car and got in. John glared over at him as he started the car.

"I have to report that sort of information and you know it," Dorian told him.

"What if more DRN's go missing?" John asked.

"Here are your socks and shoes and I have already sent messages to the remaining DRN's to be alert and to their owners, but if this DRN is over riding them, us warning them won't help," Dorian explained and handed over the shoes.

"When did you contact them?" John asked and took them. He threw them in the floor board under his legs.

"When Rudy gave me their tracking codes I was able to get their communication frequencies as well, so I called them while you we were waiting on Dr. Olmstead," Dorian explained.

"I don't know what else we can do John," Dorian told him.

"Yeah well next time a doctor tells you to rat me out you tell them to shove it!" John snapped.

"I didn't completely rat you out," Dorian said. John raised an eyebrow at him.

"Like hell you didn't!" John replied.

"Dr. Olmstead wanted me to tell Maldanado that you need to go on a 48 hour leave, I told her you were supposed to have gone on 48 hour leave," Dorian told him. John looked at him and began to smile.

"You didn't!" John said. Dorian nodded.

"You did! Man I've been a bad influence on you," John laughed. Dorian shook his head.

"Happy now?" Dorian asked. John just smiled.

"I'm impressed," John said and looked to the road. He drove them towards the precinct and Dorian noticed he was becoming fatigued.

"You alright John?" Dorian asked.

"What time is it?" John asked. Dorian scanned him as he answered.

"It's almost three o'clock, I think those pills you took are starting to kick in," Dorian told him and began to remote access the cars auto pilot. John blinked as he starred forward.

"I think you're right," John rubbed his eyes.

"I've got the car John if you want to sleep, depending on what drug that is you may not have a choice in a few minutes," Dorian said. John nodded as he pushed back his seat and leaned his head back. Dorian began driving the car remotely.

Dorian got them to the station and into the parking garage. They passed detective Stahl whom was on her way to her cruiser with her MX. She looked at John and gave him a confused look. Dorian smiled at her and stopped the car. She came to John's window as Dorian rolled it down.

"Hey Dorian…what's going on?" Valerie asked.

"Oh John's just been running himself ragged to catch a bot thief, I don't even know why he's working so hard on this case," Dorian replied. Valerie smiled at him.

"Did you ask him?" She asked.

"He's unconscious," Dorian replied.

"Well, I'll show you a trick then, it might not work but I'll try," Valerie reached forward and dragged the back of her fingers down Johns cheek.

"John," She said. John took a deeper breath but didn't respond.

"John," She said a little bolder and continued to rub his cheek.

"…hn?" John questioned in his sleep.

"Why are you working so hard on this case?" Valerie asked.

"Wh-t?" John mumbled.

"This case, why are you so worried?" She asked.

"I…don't want…them to take…Dorian," John answered in his sleep. Valerie smiled and Dorian looked on in amazement. He scanned John and he was indeed asleep even though he answered her clearly.

"Oh, Dorian's not going anywhere," Valerie said and rubbed down his neck. Johns face scrunched and he turned his head. Valerie gently removed her hands thinking she had just woke him up. John calmed again and Valerie breathed a sigh of relief before laughing to Dorian.

"You going to take him home then?" Valerie asked.

"Nope, he can sleep it off in the car," Dorian replied.

"Oh, Dorian!" Valerie scolded him.

"What are you doing today?" Dorian asked.

"I'm on my way to question a witness," Valerie told him.

"Well, be safe, I will take care of him," Dorian gestured to John. Valerie smiled again.

"See you Dorian," She said and walked back to her MX, which escorted her to her cruiser. Dorian parked the car and looked to John, all he could do was shake his head.

"John, wake up! We're back at the precinct!" Dorian said loudly and shook his partner. John opened his eyes and tried to sit forward.

"Oh, Crap!" He groaned and fell back against the seat.

"What's wrong?" Dorian asked.

"I'm beat!" John replied.

"Should I drive you home?" Dorian asked. John looked over to him and shook his head. He slipped his shoes on and got out of the car to go inside. Dorian scanned him as he walked away, John was exhausted.

"Humans-No not humans, John!" Dorian grumbled to himself as he got out of the cruiser and followed his partner inside.

John made his way to his desk and sat down. Dorian was a few moments behind him and noticed Richard looking at John wide eyed. Dorian paused by Richards desk.

"Something wrong Pauly?" Dorian asked.

"Has Kennex not taken those pills I gave him?" Richard asked.

"He has, he took two before his doctors appointment," Dorian answered.

"How long ago was that?" Richard asked.

"Almost two hours," Dorian answered.

"Those pills should have knocked him on his ass, the idea was to send him home," Richard said.

"You try telling him that," Dorian replied and looked to John. John was staring at his computer his eyes drooping.

"What did you give him?" Dorian asked Richard.

"Muscle relaxers, it looked like what was left of his leg was seizing up on him and it looked like it hurt. Two birds one stone kind of thing," Richard answered. Dorian smiled down at Paul.

"Aww Pauly, deep down you're a nice guy!" Dorian grinned.

"Back off bot, you hug me I shoot," Richard snapped. Dorian laughed and walked over to John's desk. John had laid his head down on his desk and passed out. Dorian just hung his head.

"John-Dorian! Take him home!" Maldonado snapped when she came out of her office. Dorian jolted and looked over his shoulder at her.

"Yes ma'am," Dorian replied. Maldonado shook her head and continued towards the door.

"He's lucky I have a meeting to be at," She snapped as she opened the door.

"Yes Ma'am," Dorian said again and once she was gone he relaxed.

"I wish they still made markers and stuff, right now would be prime opportunity to draw on his face," Richard said. Dorian looked over to him.

"Don't you dare! And they do still make markers, you can purchase them at art supply stores," Dorian said to him. Richard laughed and Dorian reached out to shake John's shoulder. John didn't respond in the slightest. Dorian quickly checked his vitals. When he was satisfied John was alright he grabbed one of the humans arms and lifted him up over his shoulders.

"I don't think I have ever gotten to drive this much!" Dorian replied and headed out the door with a passed out John over his shoulders.


	4. Chapter 4

John bolted up off of his bed and looked around in shock. He calmed when he found his apartment around him. He didn't remember coming home. The last thing he really remembered was getting the leg put on. He moved his sheets and saw the leg was not attached. He looked over to the charging table and saw it on the stand.

John rubbed his eyes and sat on the edge of the bed. He grabbed his cane and made his way to the table. He grabbed the leg and sat down to put it on.

"Calibration Complete," The leg said and John was impressed. That was fast. He stood up and squatted several times. It didn't make any noises at all.

"Nice," John remarked and began making his breakfast. His amputated thigh was a little sore but not nearly as bad as it was the day before.

John heard a knock at his door.

"Who is it!?" John called, not really in a good spot to leave is cooking food.

"Dorian," His partner answered.

"Oh, Come in!" John called back to him.

"Hey, just came to check on you and return your car," Dorian said as he came in.

"My car?" John asked.

"Yeah, I had to drive pretty much all day yesterday," Dorian said.

"You didn't just stay the night?" John asked.

"I know how much you like your trophies to have their privacy," Dorian said as he came to stand next to the dective. He held out the keys.

"Put them in my coat?" John asked.

"Where's your coat?"

"Wherever you put…it last night…You took off my clothes and my leg last night?" John asked, distracted from his food.

"The leg needed charging,"

"My pants…though. Gah!" John grumbled.

"Alright, next time I will let you wake up in your clothes with a dead leg," Dorian replied as he found the coat and put the keys in the pocket.

"Thank you," John replied and turned back to the stove.

"So what did I miss? Everything gets hazy after the doctor's office."

"Nothing really but this morning we are down to 1 other MX in town," Dorian told him. John froze and stared at the stove for a minute. He turned the appliance off and picked up the pan. He set it in the sink and ran water over it.

"John, what are you doing?" Dorian asked.

"Getting dressed, we're not going to lose this one too," John said as he walked quickly to his closet.

"John, you need to eat!" Dorian told him.

"We'll stop on the way!" John yelled as shut the closet door.

* * *

John and Dorian walked into the building.

"Where is everyone?" John asked, the building was empty.

"Building is closed on Saturdays, we've been granted special access," Dorian answered. John nodded as they walked.

"So this DRN is a handy man right?" John asked. Dorian nodded.

"Yes,"

"Can you tell where he is?" John asked. Dorian scanned the building.

"Downstairs, in the basement," Dorian said and John stepped forward to the elevator. He pushed the button and it didn't light up.

"Do they turn off their elevators over the weekend?" John questioned.

"It must be what the DRN is working on," Dorian said.

"The stairs are this way," Dorian told John and led him towards the stair case.

They got down to the basement and John reached for his gun. He was just getting a gut feeling. Dorian looked back at him.

"What's wrong John?" He asked.

"Something's not right," John answered. Dorian scanned John, his levels were elevated, he was alert. Dorian then began to scan the structure around them. He picked up the signature of the DRN they were after and led John in. Dorian didn't reach for his weapon, he wasn't perceiving any danger. The human survival instinct, the awareness of danger, that was something else Dorian never quite got. He could scan and see real danger before humans ever could but sometimes humans could just 'feel it'.

As Dorian came closer to the inoperable elevator he heard voices. They spoke very low, he doubted John could hear it.

"-We need the last of us, his soul is important to our father and to us. We must draw him out that is why you must be the bait-," A DRN spoke, he paused before speaking again.

"We've got visitors Sarah, that's your cue," The DRN said. That was when Dorian became aware of the radio signatures attached to explosives coming from the staircase.

"John get down!" Dorian turned and grabbed his partner. He pushed John to the ground and got over top of him to shield him.

"Dorian!? What th-," John was cut off by the explosion going off. John instinctively put his arms over his head as everything around them shook. Dorian looked up to see two DRN's come out into the hallway with a woman, each of them held up a gun.

Sarah was the first to fire and the others followed suit. Dorian got up, pulling John up with him, and turned away from them, still shielding John. Dorian braced against the wall as the bullets forced him back. John looked under Dorian's arm and was able to aim. He fired from behind his partner and shot the gun out of the woman's hand. He didn't get a good look at her at all.

"That's enough, you'll damage him!" DRN came forward and pulled down the guns of the other two androids. Dorian took the break in firing to pull John back down the hallway to the staircase.

"You alright?" John asked once behind the safety of the wall.

"I'm fine, John. Are you alright?" Dorian asked. John nodded and reloaded his gun. John went to the corner and looked around it. He come back around it and paused. He looked to Dorian.

"It can't be," He said to himself and looked back around.

"Anna?" John questioned. The woman smirked at him and raised a gun. She fired at John. John ducked back behind the wall.

"Awe, What's wrong John!?" Sarah called out over the gunfire. John glared forward and raised his gun around the corner and fired at her. The DRN's fired back and John got clipped in the shoulder. Dorian grabbed him and pulled him back. Dorian then began shooting back at them. They stopped shooting. Dorian turned to check on John.

DRN looked to Sarah.

"Get the DRN's out of here, cover the exits. I'll get Dorian," He told her.

"No, I can end John right now!" Sarah shouted at him.

"Dorian will destroy himself to protect John, now go!" DRN growled. Sarah grudgingly lowered her gun.

"Let's go!" She said and the other two DRN's followed her.

Dorian surveyed the situation, they were not going to get out of it. They were cornered, the stairs were collapsed and the only way out was through them. They wanted him, they wanted his soul apparently and Dorian didn't know why. Then the presence of Anna didn't make him fill at ease at all about John. He looked down to John whom had ripped up his sleeve and used it to tie off his shoulder. He had to get John out of there, he couldn't imagine what would happen to John if Insyndicate got him.

Dorian looked into the half collapsed staircase, he could hide John but he knew John wouldn't be a fan of that. Dorian fired down the hallway again before holstering the gun and turning around. John had gotten back to his feet and was ready to fire again. Dorian hit him over the back of his head with speed John had no hope of following. The human collapsed and Dorian picked John up easily. He carried him to the collapsed stair well.

Dorian looked around the rubble and saw a space under the stairs that was empty and the way the debris had fallen was a sound structure. He tucked John into the hole, careful of his head and real leg. Dorian then sat down on the debris in front of the hole and scanned the shoulder wound. It was a graze and was in the process of clotting.

Once satisfied John was physically alright, Dorian lifted his shirt and removed his chest plate. He had heard the DRN mention needing his soul. They wanted it for a reason and Dorian didn't want them to get it.

Dorian worried about what would happen if they took him and set him to attack John like the green DRN did. Dorian quickly programmed in a hidden routine in his brain that would recognize Johns face and voice, and the instinct to protect him at all costs. When that was done Dorian removed his soul. He looked at the rod like device for a moment before reaching forward and putting it in Johns hand and closing the human's fist around it.

"Keep me safe, man," Dorian said and got to his feet and picked up a large section of broken staircase. He placed it over the hole to seal John in while making sure he would have enough air.

Dorian went back with his gun ready. He fired when he saw the green DRN round the corner. The DRN ducked back behind the wall.

"They call you Dorian right?" The DRN called out as he took a moment to check his ammo.

"What is it to you!?" Dorian snapped and fired again in an attempt to keep the other android back.

"Couldn't help but notice you're alone Dorian," The DRN remarked.

"What happened to that human you're so fond of? How's his leg doing?" DRN mocked from behind the wall.

"None of your damn business!" Dorian snarled.

"Ha! Learn that one from him?" DRN laughed. He then dove out from behind the wall he was hiding behind and rolled to the ground. He took aim at Dorian and fired, knocking the gun from his hand. Dorian aggressively attacked the DRN but the DRN knew right where to hit him to take him down. Dorian collapsed to the ground as he shut down.

"Sorry Man, Dad wants you back," DRN replied as he walked over to Dorian. He knelt over his 'brother' and touched a finger to his forehead and accessed his memory files.

"Alright…where's the human? When was the last time you saw him?" DRN spoke to himself as he searched. It was actually hard for him to find anything on John, all he got was the rubble.

"Well it's a good thing he's not important to us," He replied and hoisted Dorian over his shoulders and left.

* * *

John woke up in a hospital bed. He was alone this time, no Dorian. He sat up and was pleased to see this time his leg was intact. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked towards the door. An MX was standing outside.

"Hey Tin Can!" John called out hoarsely. The MX turned around and opened the door.

"Were you addressing me Detective Kennex?" The MX questioned.

"Yeah…where's Dorian?" John asked.

"The DRN that was assigned to you has been designated Missing in Action," The MX told him.

"Missing in Action? Are you kidding me!?" John asked.

"I am not kidding you Detective, you were found beneath the debris of a fallen stairwell and the DRN was not recovered from the sight. It's locator chip has been deactivated." The MX explained.

"His, His locator chip." John corrected. The MX did not respond. John sat up but the MX held him back down.

"Get your damn hands off of me!" John tried to push away the machine.

"You are on restricted bed rest until you are released by a doctor," The MX replied. John was about to punch the MX when Stahl came in.

"MX stand down, that's a fight you will lose," She said and smiled to John as her MX backed off.

"What happened to Dorian?" John asked as sat up.

"We were hoping you could tell us, how are you feeling?" She asked and reached a hand around his.

"I'm fine, I just wish I knew what happened…I remember going in the building, we were going to get to the last DRN before they could. Dorian led me into the stairs. We went down to the basement then we ran into resistance…I got…I got shot!" John said and reached his hand up to his shoulder in search of a wound that wasn't there. It had already been healed.

"Wait a moment, we found you at the base of the stair well, we thought the wound on your shoulder occurred during the collapse." Stahl replied. John shook his head.

"No, they blew up the stair well and blocked us in the hallway, then ambushed us," John remembered.

"Then Dorian must have put you there…You were holding this in your hand when we found you," She said and pulled a small cylindrical object from her pocket and handed it over to him. John took it and looked it over.

"It's a synthetic soul," John said.

"Could it be Dorian's?" Stahl asked. John looked at her.

"It must be…why would he give me his soul?" John asked.

"Maybe he thought he was going to be destroyed and that you would figure everything out and get him a new body. That must be nice," Stahl replied.

"It doesn't work like that…This is just the base of what he is. Put this in another DRN he doesn't start up where the other one left off, it would be like him waking up with complete amnesia and starting over." John explained to her what Dorian had told him once about his soul.

"So what is he like without one of these?" Stahl asked.

"After about an hour, he pretty much becomes an MX," John answered her.

"I'll find a doctor and get you discharged so we can get on this," She said. John smiled at her.

"Thanks, Val," He said as she left. He continued to stare at the soul in his hands. He wasn't going to let it out of his sight.

* * *

"You finally got him! How wonderful!" Nigel said as DRN brought Dorian in over his shoulder.

"Yes, it wasn't easy. He and his human are quite attached to each other. We didn't find the human. I assumed you wanted Dorian right away," DRN said.

"That's alright, I'm not that worried about Detective Kennex. Lay Dorian here," Nigel said and DRN did as he asked.

Nigel lifted up Dorian's shirt and opened the chest plate. He began looking and paused.

"Where's his soul?" Nigel asked. DRN gave him a confused look.

"His soul is missing!" Nigel snapped. He turned to his work table and grabbed an instrument. He activated Dorian and the android opened his eyes.

"Dorian…I need you to answer a question for me before you turn into a mindless machine. What did you do with your synthetic soul?" Nigel asked. Dorian looked at him and made no move to answer.

"Answer me Dorian!" Nigel said firmly. Dorian still didn't answer.

"Over ride code Alpha Six Twelve, DRN-0167 where is your synthetic soul!?" Nigel asked. Dorians face lit up as a sequence was activated with in him to tell the truth to Nigel.

"I left it with Detective Kennex," Dorian answered.

"Good, thank you Dorian. Why did you remove it?" Nigel asked.

"I over heard the DRN say that he wanted my soul, at first I thought he was being colloquial but then I thought of it literally and didn't want to take any chances. So I left it with John," Dorian answered.

"Very well…you are going to help us get it back you understand?" Nigel said.

"I will not!" Dorian said and started to struggle. DRN held him and Nigel shut him down.

"Get me another soul," Nigel said.

"That's not going to mess him up?" DRN asked.

"I can take care of that!" Nigel assured him and DRN went to retrieve a soul.


	5. Chapter 5

~+~6 months later~+~

John starred at the computer screen and fiddled with the trinket around his neck. It was Dorian's soul put on a chain so John could keep up with it. His stand in partner was standing next to him. John glanced up at the machine as it looked forward blankly.

"Okay John, I got the address of the victim's boyfriend. I sent it to your MX" Stahl said as she came up to his desk.

"Great," John said simply and got to his feet.

"Let's go tin can," John replied and grabbed his jacket off his chair. Stahl watched him leave with his MX and Captain Maldonado walked up to her.

"Has he gotten any better?" Sandra asked. Valerie looked up to her.

"He hates the MX's, he also hates that he can't find out what happened to Dorian," She replied.

"He hated synthetics before and now he's depressed about losing one," Stahl added.

"Dorian was special, that's why I put them together. John feels like he's lost another partner," Maldonado said.

"Has Rudy still not found another DRN?" Stahl asked.

"He apparently had to pull a lot of strings but he found one and he has it. John doesn't want to activate him until he's sure he can't get the other one back," Maldonado answered.

"He's been through a lot in what four years total? Got ambushed, lost his partner, was in a coma for 17 months, woke up to find out he lost a leg, found out his girlfriend was a spy, and now after having to bond with a synthetic partner, he loses that partner…so all things considered, he's doing fantastic!" Stahl nut-shelled. Maldonado laughed and nodded.

"I guess he is," Maldonado smiled.

* * *

Dorian walked through the crowded streets. He was a few blocks from the wall. He was walking to meet someone. He was getting close to a restaurant, a noodle restaurant with chairs outside. It was raining and it was cold. He could see the breaths of the humans around him. His eyes locked on a man sitting at the restaurant. Tall, dark hair, tanned skin, and he was eating noodles from the bowl in front of him.

Dorian sat down in the open seat next to him. The man looked up at him.

"Where have you been?" He asked gruffly.

"I…I don't know," Dorian answered.

"How do you not know? Can robots get hangovers?" The man asked.

"What's your name?" Dorian asked him. He couldn't get his facial recognition software to work.

"Wow, you are malfunctioning," The man said with a smirk and got up.

"Wait, don't go anywhere!" Dorian tried to warn him. He felt something was going to happen.

"We've got work to do," The man said and paid for his food. He turned and walked from the restaurant.

"Wait Damnit! What's your name!?" Dorian yelled and got to his feet. As he crossed the street a person on a motorcycle came driving by and pulled a gun from their jacket. They raised the gun and shot the man. He fell to the ground covered in blood.

"No! J-,"

Dorian opened his eyes and looked around Dr. Vaughn's lab. He stepped down off the charger and grabbed the clothes that were set out for him. He had that dream every night. He would find the man, ask him his name, and the man would get killed. And every night he would only get part of his name. He obviously knew his name but the dream never lasted long enough to finish it. He didn't tell anyone he even had dreams to begin with. Androids weren't supposed to dream especially not him. He didn't have a soul. Dr. Vaughn had been so upset with him and working so long on him as it was he didn't want to burden the engineer with more glitches.

"J, Jason, John, Jeremy, Jamie, James, Jim, Jordan, Jeramiah…J," Dorian tried to finish the name as he got dressed.

"One of these nights J, I will save you," Dorian said to himself as he tugged his shoes on.

"You ready?" DRN asked peaking his head into this 'brother's' room.

"Yes," Dorian smiled and followed the other android from the room.

"Ah my boys, good morning," Nigel greeted the DRN's as they came into his lab.

"Good Morning," The both said in return.

"Can we go over your duty one more time?" Nigel asked.

"We take out Detective Kennex, Kill him and find the soul he stole from you. He's highly volatile and it would be best to kill him before he has a chance to draw his weapon," DRN told him. Dorian nodded along.

"Go on and get the car ready we'll be right behind you," DRN told Dorian. Dorian turned away stiffly and left the room.

"Keep an eye on him and don't let him get a chance to run facial recognition on Kennex otherwise you're screwed," Nigel told him.

"Then why are we using him? You could change my coloring or hell put my memory files and soul in that body!" DRN replied.

"Because we need him to track Kennex's location, Don't even ask to have to tracking code transferred to you, you saw what happened last time we did that. That DRN is still unresponsive! I also can't put your in him! We have put in three different souls into that body and they've all been rejected. I don't want to risk yours. So far the one I made for you is holding stable. I want to calibrate it to his as soon as possible to make sure it stays that way. It will work as long as he doesn't activate that damn recognition code. The picture I've shown him of Kennex I have altered just enough for it not to activate so long as he doesn't run his real face you should be good." Nigel told him. He had found Dorian's safety device to protect John but he could not remove it. It would replicate itself and hide itself again. DRN nodded in submission.

"If you say so," DRN grumbled and started for the door.

"Dorn," Nigel said. DRN stopped, it was Nigel's way of distinguishing him from Dorian.

"If he gets a good look at Kennex, you need to get the hell out of there fast," Nigel reminded.

"I'll do my best," DRN assured him with a smirk and left the room.

* * *

John paced his apartment and glanced at the screen. He had determined the DRN hadn't taken Dorian in a vehicle, nothing on the surrounding surveillance footage showed anything. They had left by subterranean means.

There were underground service corridors, sewage passages, and waterways. He had checked every surface entrance to each of those lines, he accessed local surveillance above ground and found nothing. The Service corridors didn't have video surveillance but they did have motion sensors to activate the lighting system. They kept track of when the lights were kicked on. The service corridor lights were activated in a sequence that left the building and lead parallel to the wall before the censors stopped showing activity. The surveillance footage of the nearest exit to that spot didn't show anything.

There was a way under the wall, there had to be. John couldn't take it anymore. He downloaded the information to his phone and grabbed his jacket. He tucked Dorian's soul under his shirt as he rushed out the door.

John parked the cruiser outside the last service entrance in the sequence. He got out of the vehicle and checked out his surroundings. He didn't draw any attention to himself as he walked to the entrance. He went in and two DRN's watched him disappear from across the street.

"He's gone down into a service corridor…It has access to all the surrounding buildings and the power grid to this section of the wall," Dorian said.

"I am aware, it's also a great place to ambush him. I'll cut him off, you go in behind him," DRN told him.

"Affirmative," Dorian answered and went to follow John into the corridor.

John read from his phone as he went down the corridor. He turned a corner down the cramped hallway. There were pipes taking up most of the room. From an App on John's phone, he was able to hold up the device, use the camera, and it revealed the pipes contents from city plans. He could tell there was water, electrical, Ethernet, and other lines protected inside the pipes. The lights were dim on top of it. He couldn't see very far.

John paused for a moment. He felt as though he was being watched and he drew his weapon. He peeked around another corner and found nothing. He then turned around and came face to face with Dorian. There he was standing there plain as day with a gun aimed at Johns face.

"Shit! Dorian?" John asked and jolted back. Dorian glared at him for a minute and John looked him up and down. The coloring was right and something told the human this was his partner.

"It's you!" Dorian recognized him.

"Yeah, it's me!" John couldn't help but smile.

"Your name! What's your name!?" Dorian demanded. John froze as a chill went through him.

"You don't know who I am?" John asked.

"Every night I see you! I dream that I meet up with you and you die because I fail to save you! The fact that you die every night isn't the even the most disturbing part!" Dorian ranted.

"Androids don't dream," John said. They were still gun to gun.

"Androids don't dream! I don't know how I dream or how I care without a soul in me but I do! Every fiber of my being wants to protect you when all _I _want is to know who the hell you are!" Dorian yelled.

"I'm your partner, man. And you're not dreaming," John told him. Dorian gave him a confused look. He tried to scan Johns face and it worked. His face lit up blue and John smiled.

"You're Detective John Kennex?" Dorian questioned. John nodded and put away his gun. He walked forward and Dorian pushed him back with the nose of his gun in John's chest.

"Dorian!"

"I am supposed to kill John Kennex," Dorian told him.

"What? Kill me? You just said you wanted to protect me!" John argued.

"You stole a very special synthetic soul from Dr. Vaughn," Dorian said, he was trying to fight whatever was over riding him. The lights danced across his face in a frenzy.

"Dr. Vaughn…knew we hadn't heard the last of him. Come on Dorian!" John tried to take the gun away from him but the android had him on the ground in wrist lock in the blink of an eye. John groaned out after hitting the ground.

"Very good Dorian," DRN said coming up from the other direction.

"Has he told you where he's hiding the soul yet?" DRN asked. John looked up at him.

"No,"

"You green eyed son of a bitch!" John tried to kick out at the machine as it got closer. DRN stepped on and pinned John's synthetic leg to the ground.

"I'm feeling a sense of Déjà vu, John," DRN said. John tried reaching into his jacket to get his gun with the hand Dorian wasn't holding. DRN caught that hand and retrieved the gun.

"Allow me," DRN pulled the gun out and put it to John's forehead. DRN didn't seem to notice Dorian's changing demeanor.

"We'll find that soul with or without your help." DRN said and was about to pull the trigger when Dorian turned on him. Dorian knocked the gun away and began to fight the DRN. John took the opportunity to get up and run for it.

During the struggle DRN managed to get his gun up and aim at John. Dorian tried to knock it away as DRN fired. He heard John cry out after the bullet hit one of the pipes. Dorian got the gun from DRN and DRN stepped back. He examined the pipes they were next to. He punched into one and an explosion of hot water and steam separated them. DRN took off and Dorian turned around to see John on the ground, a small pool of blood was forming beneath his head.

Dorian had been sure it was a ricochet. He had heard the bullet hit a pipe. Dorian knelt next to John and turned him onto his back. He saw the wound. It had grazed his scalp and Dorian ran scans on him. John was fine, it looked worse than it was. Dorian pulled John up over his shoulders and went back to the cruiser to drive him back to the station.

* * *

Valerie walked past John's desk and noticed his MX standing there. Shift had ended hours ago, she had been catching up on paperwork.

"MX what are doing up here?" She asked when she walked over to the machine.

"Detective Kennex expressly ordered me to stand here until his return," The MX replied. Valerie shook her head.

"Shift is over, you can go down and get charged, Detective Kennex wasn't serious," She told the machine.

"Detec-," The MX tried.

"I will take care of Detective Kennex, go on, get a full charge," She insisted. The MX stepped back and turned for the door. She watched him leave and continued to Maldonado's office to drop off the paperwork. She left it on the captain's desk and was ready to go home. She looked out at the bullpen again and froze when she saw someone standing out there.

It was Dorian with John over his shoulders. Valerie ran out of the captain's office.

"Dorian?" She asked. He looked blankly at her and continued to John's desk. He put the human down in his chair.

"Is he alright?" She asked and went to John. His face was bloody though it was dry.

"The wound is fairly superficial, he should be regaining consciousness in just a moment." Dorian spoke almost robotically. Valerie ran to her desk and got a first aid kit to clean John up.

"How are you back? Where have you been?" Valerie asked when she returned to John.

"I don't understand, I've been missing?" Dorian asked. Valerie gave him a confused look.

"Dorian, you don't know who we are?" She asked. She got out a sanitary wipe and began wiping away the dried blood.

"I know him, I do not know you," He answered.

"Then how did you know to bring him here?" She asked.

"I do not know," Dorian said and his face lit up.

"Dorian, what happened today?"

"Dr. Vaughn sent us on our mission to kill Detective John Kennex, We cornered the Detective down in the service corridor. I was supposed to take him from behind and Dorn was to interrogate him about the location of the soul he stole and then kill him…but he turned around. I recognized him, I've seen him many times in my dreams, when I scanned his face I couldn't kill him. Something overrode all my orders and I had to protect him. I even attacked my brother to save him. Now I can't go back, I betrayed them," Dorian said. Valerie listened in shock and confusion.

"You've been with Dr. Vaughn? We haven't heard any chatter on Dr. Vaughn since his disappearance last year. John didn't steal a soul, it's your soul! You gave it to him before you disappeared six months ago, you were trying to find out who was stealing DRN's," Valerie said, trying to explain. Valerie dabbed away at the actual wound on Johns head and he winced.

"Hnn," Johns leaned away from the pressure and opened his eyes.

"None of that makes any sense," Dorian said to her.

"Dorian you are John's partner! Dr. Vaughn stole you," Valerie insisted.

"His partner? I've never been here before!" Dorian said and took a step back. He seemed to be getting upset. John reached up and held Valerie's hand from rubbing his head anymore and looked up to Dorian.

"You're getting awful emotional for a DRN without a soul," John grumbled and sat up straight.

"It's you! I didn't have these problems before I saw you!" Dorian yelled at him.

"He really doesn't have a synthetic soul installed?" Valerie asked him.

"That's what he said," John replied and sat forward and held his head.

"I-," Dorian started to talk but he froze up. John looked up and saw his disco face was going crazy. A moment later Dorian completely shut down and collapsed.

"-the hell!?" John asked. Valerie and John looked at Dorian for a minute before she looked to John.

"He has dreams?" She asked. John just looked up at her, he wanted to remark sarcastically but he thought that was strange too.

"Yeah that's pretty weird," John replied.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"I have a headache but nothing I can't handle. What do we do with him?" John asked.

"Well Rudy is going to have to look at him and put his soul back in him," She answered.

"If this isn't some sort of trap…" John looked down at the DRN.

"You're skeptical of him," Valerie said. John looked at her and didn't say anything.

"Very skeptical…Let's get him downstairs and put him on a charge pad until we can get him over to Rudy tomorrow," Valerie said.

"You think that's safe? What if he's rigged to blow when all the cops come back in the morning?" John asked. Valerie smiled at him.

"Come on," Valerie said and went to Dorian and picked him up under the arms.

"Oh he's heavier than that!" John said.

"I'm a chrome remember, I can handle it if you can," Valerie said.

"Not so sure I can but let's try," John said and got up. He was a little dizzy but he bent forward and picked up Dorian's legs.

They got the android downstairs to the charging room. They stood him up inside a charge pad and Dorian began to charge.

"Now this should put your worries about him blowing us up to rest," Valerie said and pressed a button on the side of the pad. A clear cover dropped down over the pad locking Dorian inside.

"What is this?" John asked, tapping on it. It sounded like glass.

"It completely traps him in there. That glass will contain any kind of explosive device that could be rigged inside an android. Not even the newest MX models can punch their way out of it. It also cuts him off electronically. He can't send or receive any kind of communication. If he were awake he wouldn't be able to hear us," Valerie explained.

"Why do we have this?" John asked.

"In case there is a malfunction or an attack. These censors check the MX's for any kind of tampering every night, if they suspect someone has compromised an MX it is put in isolation until it can be cleared it for duty," Valerie answered.

"Works for me," John said.

"You want me to drive you to the hospital?" Valerie asked as they walked back to the elevator.

"No, I've had enough of hospitals for a long time. I just need a shower," John said as they came to the MX's express elevator. They had used a cargo elevator to bring Dorian down.

"Thank you though, I'll take this one, it's closer to where I hope he parked me," John said and stepped into it. Valerie stepped in behind him. John laughed and turned around to face her.

"I think this is meant for one," John told her.

"I won't tell if you won't" She smiled. John nodded and put his arms around her to pull her closer. The door slid shut and they were taken up to the main floor.

"See you tomorrow, bright and early?" Valerie asked him.

"Yeah right, if I can find my car," John replied as they went out the front door. It was parked right there.

"Well that was easy, bright and early," John said to her and walked around the car. He stumbled a bit when he stepped off the curb.

"Are you good to drive?" Valerie asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine and besides…I have auto pilot," John assured her. Valerie nodded and stepped away from him.

"See you tomorrow," Valerie said.

"See you," John replied and got in his car. John watched her walk towards the parking garage in his rear view. He always had a bit of a crush on Valerie Stahl. He had grown even fonder of her over the last six months. She had kept him sane and kept him from killing Richard and at least 10 MX's since Dorian disappeared.

John took a deep breath and sighed when he could no longer see her. He could still smell her perfume along with the smell of his own blood. John caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

"Wow John, you look like hell," He said to himself, turned the car on, and drove home.


	6. Chapter 6

Dorian opened his eyes after coming to a full charge. He looked around and had absolutely no idea where he was. He reached up and felt the glass. He had to get out of there and tried to punch through the cover that was over him. It didn't budge. He couldn't get his arm back far enough to really wail on it either.

"Hey! LET ME OUT OF HERE!" Dorian tried yelling when he saw an MX walk by. The other machine didn't seem to notice him. He pounded and the MX couldn't hear him. He began to examine the molecular structure of the glass and found out why. He wasn't going anywhere. He tried to make contact with Nigel but he couldn't send out any messages. He tried to remember what had happened but the last thing in his memory banks was preparing to leave for his mission.

"I must have been caught, He must have tried to erase my memory files," Dorian said aloud as he looked around his 'cage'. It was protocol. Dorian had been told that if he got caught all his memory files would be erased, but they weren't. Only a small portion was gone. He assumed it was because of the isolation glass.

Dorian looked up when he noticed someone came to stand in front of him. It was a tall man with dark hair, he had a cup of coffee in his head. Dorian had seen him before, it was the man from his dreams.

"What's your name!?" Dorian asked. The man raised an eyebrow, motioned to his ears, and shook his head. He couldn't hear Dorian through the glass. He then motioned to Dorian to scan his face. Dorian did and found a name.

"John?" Dorian asked. He nodded.

"Let me out," Dorian asked. John shook his head before he took a drink of his coffee. Dorian looked him over. He noticed the cut John had across his temple. It was fresh but it was healing nicely. He then noticed John's necklace. It was a synthetic soul, it must be the one he stole.

The human noticed him staring and picking up the necklace and tucked it under his shirt

"Yeah, you're not getting that back any time soon," John said, knowing the DRN couldn't hear him.

"I can't believe you found him," Rudy said from behind John. John turned to him. Rudy was pushing a table down the aisle with tools stored beneath.

"Now why did I have to bring all my stuff down here?" Rudy asked and looked around John.

"Why is he under an Iso. shield?" Rudy asked and stepped up the pad.

"Rudy, He tried to kill me yesterday, someone has messed him up. Until I am one hundred percent sure, I am not trusting him at all. I want full diagnostics, look in every nook and cranny in his head, and fix what they did to him. Find out where he's been, anything you can!" John told him.

"You think it might be a trick from whoever took him, whoever stole the other DRN's?" Rudy asked.

"Yeah, I just don't want to take any chances," John answered.

"Understandable, has he acted strangely at all?" Rudy asked as he looked at Dorian for a moment. The DRN stared suspiciously back at him.

"Well other than trying to kill me, he yelled at me about being able to dream," John retorted.

"Dreaming? Must be something wrong with the shutdown relays for him to register images while he supposed to be offline," Rudy mumbled to himself.

Dorian slammed his hand against the glass causing Rudy to jump back. John almost laughed.

"He's gotten more aggressive," Rudy replied with a glance to John.

"He's never liked people talking about him like he's not there, still not sure I believe he doesn't have a soul installed," John replied and took another drink.

"He told you he doesn't have a soul in?" Rudy asked.

"That's what he said, so are you going to get him out of there and get started?" John asked. Rudy swallowed and looked between John and Dorian.

"You're not going to help me?" Rudy asked.

"What the hell do I know about robots?" John asked and turned away. Rudy watched him go and turned awkwardly towards Dorian. Dorian watched John leaving and began to hit the glass vigorously.

"Uhm, John I don't think he wants you to leave," Rudy said. John raised an eyebrow and came back. Dorian calmed down.

"He's going to have to get over it, I have active cases I have to work on!" John said.

"At least let him know that, he can't exactly hear us!" Rudy said. John took a deep breath.

"Chicken shit," John said and reached forward and pressed the button to release Dorian. The glass slid up and Dorian paused.

"Alright pay attention, Rudy is going to be running diagnostics on you, you will allow him to whatever he needs. I'm not going to insult you by lying to you, you used to be my partner after all. That being said I don't trust you a damn bit and I won't until he says you're okay. Now get on this table and don't give Rudy any trouble, otherwise I will shoot you as if you were just another MX," John told him.

"Where are you going?" Dorian asked.

"To work, now get your robotic ass on this table!" John told him.

"Are you always this angry?" Dorian asked.

"Believe it or not he's acting like his old self again, this is an improvement," Rudy told him. John just reached over and smacked him in the back of the head.

"Well that was uncalled for," Rudy whimpered. John just looked at Dorian and waited. The DRN stepped off the pad and sat down on the table.

"Alright then…I have to turn you off," Rudy said. Dorian went to stand back up and John grabbed his shoulder.

"You'll be fine, I'll wake you up," John told him. Dorian sat back down and Rudy turned Dorian off. Dorian went limp and John helped Rudy lay him out flat.

"There we go, I will let you know what I find," Rudy said.

"Great," John said and finally got away.

* * *

Nigel cursed to himself.

"Damnit,"

"Nigel, I've got some bad news," Sarah said coming into the engineer's lab.

"I lost Dorian and didn't even recover the soul, tell me what else could be going wrong?" Nigel asked.

"Insyndicate doesn't think you can handle this anymore. We will retrieve the soul and we will not guarantee the safety of that DRN. We should have done this in the first place. Kennex would be dead by now and we would have what we want. You've taken too long to get results." Sandra told him. Nigel nodded.

"Of course, and what exactly will you be doing to handle it?" Nigel asked. Sandra held up a gun.

"Why don't you let me worry about that, you just need the soul right? The bot itself is expendable," She smirked and left the lab. Nigel looked up at the screen at the last transmitting location for Dorian.

"My sons are not expendable," Nigel growled under his breath. He began typing into the computer, he had to find Dorian.

DRN came into the lab and saw what Nigel was doing.

"I thought you wiped his memory after he was compromised," DRN replied and tested his shoulder. Dorian had done a number on him when he went into protective mode.

"I did, but if I can get to him I can get him out of harm's way…but it looks like he's offline," Nigel shook his head.

"Harm's way?" DRN asked.

"Insyndicate is taking over they are going in after the soul," Nigel said.

"Dorian will be caught in the cross fire," DRN realized.

"Yes," Nigel answered.

"You sacrificed Danika," DRN replied.

"I made her knowing I was going to lose her. With you and your brothers…I knew you would do great things. I didn't make you just to be cops, I made you to be whatever you wanted. I never wanted you to be Insyndicate's private army, I used them to get the processors, the souls, and the second fleet of DRNs together. I think it's about time we let them in on that little secret," Nigel explained.

"What do you need me to do?" DRN asked.

* * *

John walked down into Rudy's lab. Dorian was unconscious on a table with so many wires plugged in everywhere…it looked ridiculous.

"So what did you find?" John asked as he stepped up to the table. Rudy looked up to him and turned around in his chair.

"I found out why Dorian didn't kill you for one," Rudy said.

"And why's that?" John asked.

"Before he removed his synthetic soul he put in a program that can't be deleted by anyone but Dorian himself. It recognizes your face and voice and makes him protect you even if it means his destruction. I guess Dorian was worried they would try to make him kill you." Rudy said.

"So it really is him?" John said more to himself.

"I have removed everything that's not supposed to be there. They modified him to be completely off the grid and I can't figure out how to fix that. I will work on it but right now he is fit for duty but if he gets lost we won't be able to track him, he will have to consciously send out his location to be found," Rudy tried to explain.

"We can work around that, so he can have this back?" John asked taking the synthetic soul from his neck.

"Yes," Rudy assured him

"What about his memories?" John asked.

"Since Dorian has to submit all his memory files from every case I was able to reconstruct most of his memory. The only things he would be missing are things that were recorded after hours like when you take him out for noodles, those conversations he won't remember," Rudy explained.

"Alright, get it over with," John said. Rudy pulled up Dorian's shirt and removed his chest plate. Rudy then removed the chain and re-installed the soul.

"Hey could you do me a favor and make me a fake soul that looks like that," John said. Rudy looked up at him over his glasses.

"Uh…Sure, I suppose," Rudy said. Once he was satisfied everything was in order he replaced the chest plate and began un-hooking Dorian. John looked up at Rudy when he handed him the activation rod.

"You told him you would wake him up," Rudy replied and John took it. He touched it to Dorian's left ear and the android came to life. Dorian looked up at the humans above him.

"What happened?" Dorian asked.

"Well, let's see, do you know who I am?" John asked.

"Is that a trick question?" Dorian asked.

"Nope," John answered.

"Detective John Kennex, you're my partner, and you're a Capricorn that loves danger?" Dorian asked and smiled at John.

"That's on the official record?" John asked up to Rudy.

"Apparently," Rudy replied.

"Come on, man, what happened?" Dorian asked and sat up.

"Six months ago, we were investigating stolen DRN's, we went in to pick up the last one in the city before they could be stolen and we ran into resistance. All I remember is a bomb going off and then waking up in a hospital, you were missing, and apparently you removed your own soul and left it with me," John explained. Dorians face lit up as he synced up with the departments system. He began updating his files.

"I've been missing for six months?" Dorian asked.

"And you apprehended me after I tried to kill you last night?" Dorian asked and got to his feet. He began to pace.

"I can tell I have been active for that time but I can't remember…" Dorian said.

"Rudy may have removed those memories," John told him. Dorian looked to Rudy.

"Uh, well actually, Dr. Vaughn sent you a virus after you were apprehended that began to erase all those memories, I salvaged what I could, but it's bits and pieces," Rudy said.

"Dr. Vaughn? Nigel Vaughn?" Dorian asked. He was officially freaking out.

"D, Calm down," John told him. Dorian shook his head, his disco face had yet to stop flickering.

"John, it's one thing to wake up from a coma, we've both done that, but to find out you were doing things during that coma…it's exasperating," Dorian told him.

"Those bits and pieces don't happen to contain the way under the wall in the Service corridors in sector 7 do they?" John asked.

"Couldn't tell you, I will make you a copy of everything there. Oh hey I can put it on a drive that looks like a synthetic soul, that way it's practical," Rudy said.

"Whatever works, will it take long?" John asked. Rudy shook his head.

"Not at all,"

"Why do you want something that looks like a synthetic soul?" Dorian asked.

"You and the other DRN asked me what I did with the soul I stole, they had convinced you that I had stolen it and they needed it back. So I figured we could let them think they can still get it from me," John said.

"John that could put you in a ridiculous amount of danger," Dorian said.

"I'm trying to take down Insyndicate and my Ex- girlfriend, danger comes with the territory and besides, you're good right? You've got my back again?" John asked. Dorian smiled and nodded. John held up his hand and Dorian returned the gesture and they hooked their thumbs and shook hands.

"Absolutely," Dorian told him.

"What the hell have you been doing without me?" Dorian asked.

"Being an even more brash version of himself and that's _when_ he talked," Rudy piped up. John glared at Rudy.

"Aww you missed me!" Dorian replied with a smile.

"No I didn't, I was pissed that I was being charged for loss of police property, you aren't cheap!" John replied.

"You missed me," Dorian said plainly.

"Shut up. Rudy you done yet?" John asked

"Just a moment," Rudy replied.

"You missed me," Dorian was beaming.

"Did not," John glared at Dorian. Dorian gave him an expectant look.

"Alright I missed you," John groaned and turned away. Dorian grinned and hugged John.

"Bones Dorian!" John said as the androids grip got a little strong.

"Oh I'm not even close to breaking your bones, get over it!" Dorian replied and held him a moment longer before letting go.

"Here you are!" Rudy piped up from his computer. He held the drive out to Kennex.

"Thanks, I have cases to get to, I'll look through this over lunch. Let's go. Did you update yourself on my current cases?" John asked Dorian. Dorian nodded.

"Of course and I think we should start with the victim's boyfriend,"

"Which one?"

"O'brien,"

"Right, good, let's go. Rudy if you find anything from that information before I can look at it let me know," John said and began walking towards the door with Dorian.


End file.
